


The Sanitarium

by TroyBolton



Category: Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because like none of it is a secret, Car Accidents, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Memory Loss, Mental Health Issues, Most of this is for later I'm just tagging ahead of time, Other, Physical Therapy, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, This is the FOURTH time so lets hope it posts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-06 19:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14655021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TroyBolton/pseuds/TroyBolton
Summary: In which Jay and Myrtle live but at the cost of another life.And Nick isn't the only one to end up in the sanitarium.





	1. Intro - A Sinking Feeling

_ Daisy had rushed off with Gatsby chasing after her once Tom made him snap. The fear in Jay’s voice as he called to Daisy thinking he was going to forever loose her made Nick a little sick in his stomach. It was almost hard to keep what little he had eaten down. _

Nick didn’t really find it quite fair on Gatsby's part, what with the fact that Tom was also cheating on his wife, but he didn’t so much as look at Gatsby when he left.

The way Tom edged him on left a bitter taste in Nick’s mouth and a dark thought in his head. He wanted more than anything than to call Tom out on cheating on Daisy, how he could push Gatsby's buttons all he wanted but it would never fix what he had done with Myrtle. What Nick  _ witnessed _ him do with Myrtle. It wasn’t fair on Gatsby's but to be fair, the way Gatsby acted wasn’t fair on Tom or Daisy. It was truly hard to pick any side of this battle.

The entire day was a mess and Nick? He was exhausted.

He had said nothing to stop the argument between the two men earlier, and it started to eat at him slowly.

Eventually Tom suggested they go for a drive and Jordan was more than happy to get out of the place. They could all feel the tension rising between just the three of them and as much as Nick enjoyed spending time with Jordan, he wanted to be away from Tom as soon as possible. So he accepted and as Tom stepped out, asked Jordan if she could sit between them. She was understanding of the request, sure, but it didn’t keep her from looking at her shorter friend with worry.

As they drove on and drew closer to town, Nick’s own worries and anxiety started to eat at him more. A group of people gathered around in the middle of the road and George was holding onto Myrtle while being questioned by a officer. Something must have happened that caused quite a commotion.

“May as well see what all the excitement is about.” Tom mumbled, pulling his car over and stepping out. Jordan gave Nick’s shoulder a light squeeze and shot him a soft reassuring smile as she started to follow after Tom.

“You can stay here if you want.” she had said before going. Nick almost considered it, almost stayed behind and let the excitement die down, but his anxiety worsened and he had to see what was happening before he was driven mad by the anxiety telling him everything was currently too much. He followed a little while after the other two and as he drew closer to the people who had gathered round, he could slowly start to hear their mumbling.

_ “Can you believe it?” _

_ “It's that Gatsby's fault.” _

_ “I wouldn't think so, he was in the passenger seat.” _

_ “The poor Buchanan girl.” _

Nick felt his heart sink and his breathing quicken as he shoved himself to the front of the group. “What happened here!?” he demanded, voice filled with panic. “What do you mean that poor-” a hand on his shoulder quickly caused him to turn around. There stood Jordan, eyes filled with grief and shock. She swiftly took hold of Nick’s hand and dragged him away from the scene.

Nick had a million different questions running through his head. He didn't want to leave the scene yet, not until he got answers. “Jordan _wait,_ they were talking about Jay and-”

“We need to talk Carraway.” she whispered, voice broken and fragile as she tried her best to stay strong and hold back tears. It was rare when she called Nick by his last name, he didn't like how small it made him feel. 

“You can’t...we should walk. I’ll explain while we walk.” And she did. She explained in full detail what a witness had told her. Nick reaction to it all was not a pleasant one, lurching over to the side of the road and losing whatever small bit of food he was able to keep down that evening.

_ A yellow car being driven by a Mrs. Daisy Buchanan at alarming speeds has crashed into a cab while rushing through town, nearly hitting Myrtle Wilson in the process. While Mrs. Wilson remained intact, both drivers of each car died on impact. The single passenger who was with Mrs. Buchanan was holding on to life by a thread. _

_ This passenger was none other than Jay Gatsby. _


	2. Months One and Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second month was the downfall for Nick, but the fourth could only be uphill for him, right?

It would be a lie saying that everything was fine after Daisy's funeral. The reality of it all was that one month passed and Tom was sent away to the sanitarium after showing he had some rather bad anger issues as well as excessive drinking. It wasn’t his fault really, but he did tend to pin the death of his wife on Nick and Gatsby.

It wasn’t fair on Nick. Poor Nick who had so much life in his eyes, so much potential, had so suddenly closed himself off from the world and tried to break contact with anyone and everyone. Of course Jordan found her ways on getting into his house to see him.

The place itself was a mess. Not the usual mess that simply screamed happy cheerful Nick and his love for writing, but the kind of mess that showed just how deep down a hole this man had dug himself to try and hide. Jordan told him of a letter saying if he didn't pay rent he would be evicted, and Nick ignored her warning. So the older woman took matters into her own hands and forced Nick to move in with her. Jordan’s place wasn’t nearly as large as Tom’s nor were it as small as Nick’s house, but it was still somehow very cozy. This didn’t quite lift Nick’s seemingly permanent depression, but it did feel good to be someplace fresh to him.

Jordan could have sworn she saw a smile upon his face, though it was only a small one.

The second month was very eventful, at least...if you could say Nicks constant fighting was eventful. He always came home nearly every other week with some new injury and the smell of alcohol upon his being. Jordan was exhausted, she could only keep up with his accidents for so long. One night in particular that month caused both of them quite a scare.

Nick came home with a gash in his side and a wobble within his step, he didn't look very good. Jordan came down stairs holding something she immediately dropped upon catching sight of her friend. 

A worried sigh. “Carraway what did you do to yourself this time?” her voice was demanding as she made her way to another room to grab some towels.

“‘S nothing.” Nick slurred, slumping himself onto the couch. Jordan managed to pull his shirt off and get a better look at his injury.  It was something, that was for sure, but it didn’t look fatal or in need of any serious stitching. Blood was flowing from it quite fast and Jordan did the best she could to keep him from losing to much. 

“Nothing?” she snorted, “Nick this- you can't keep coming home like this! God knows what would happen if you actually died out there!” Nick shrugged, only pushing Jordan closer to the edge of anger. “I'm being serious Carraway, what am I going to tell Jay when someone comes to my door telling me you died being sliced in the side?”

Nick stayed silent, thinking up the right way to word what he wanted to say, he almost looked offended at the mention of Gatsby's name. “J- Gatsby wouldn't care.” His voice was too clear for someone slurring his words only seconds ago. “Only cared ‘bout Daisy. Daisy this, Daisy that. Didn't care about no one else but her.” he huffed, “I'm a writer...was meant to be a writer...it's not hard to observe and see what people truly want and Gatsby had no interest in my life.” Nick attempted to turn over and push away the subject altogether, but the sudden movement caused the gash in his side to only burn more and the alcohol having worn off only made the jabbing feeling worse for him.

“You can say what you want Nick…” Jordan let out a sigh in defeat and stood up, “But you can't pretend like that man didn’t care for you. If he didn't care he wouldn't have asked you for help or asked you to lunch or, I don't know, asked you to swim? You are  _ so _ caught up in your own...whatever this is to realize he cared!”

Raising her voice wasn’t quite what Jordan meant to do but it clearly got somewhat through to her friend. Nick was trembling, eyes wide and full of tears as he tried to curl into himself and hide. If Jordan wasn’t trying to stay stern with him she’d try and comfort the younger man.

“I didn't...it's just…” Nick choked on air as he searched for the right words to say, desperate for some small form of comfort is his struggle. Jordan compiled and hugged Nick, holding him close and rubbing his back, trying her best to silence his crying. “It's hard Jordan. I-it’s hard just  _ knowing _ he's there...he’s in a hospital and  _ dying _ and I just- I didn’t even stop him. I didn’t stop him or Daisy a-and now Daisy's dead and...and...” Nick's voice broke as he started to sob fully. Jordan hadn't quite planned on a situation like this to break out but she couldn’t exactly leave Nick on his own now. She hushed him till his sobs turned to quiet whimpers and soft sniffles. 

“Maybe we should get you help.” she started slowly, making sure he understood before pressing on, “There's a really good sanitarium a hour away Nick, with how these last few months have been going I feel maybe it would help you. There's this one therapist in particular, his name is Dr.Sherman, and I think he could really help if you gave him a chance. I'm not staying in any way that you are insane, but, you need someone to talk to and to get this pent up emotion out.”    
  
“I don’t need help Jordan! I just...I just need time.” Nick huffed lightly. He was too tired and hurt to fight anymore, sure, but there was still a bite in his voice that immediately told Jordan it was probably best to drop the subject.    
  
She shook her head in defeat. “Fine, but don’t think I won’t bring this up again, specially if you start coming home looking like this. This isn’t okay Nick, and I know it's hard to move on with things like recent events, but when they’re not so recent anymore then its best we stop moping about over them and try making something of ourselves again.” Jordan stood, walking over to another room and coming back with some blankets, Nick was already asleep by the time she got back. She carefully covered him and locked the front door for the night.

The second month was the downfall for Nick, but the fourth could only be uphill for him, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter  
> This chapter makes me mad and I can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe its because I just don't like how its worded at all or maybe its because I don't like how fast it goes? I don't know, maybe I'll go back and redo it some time.
> 
> But uh...here it is. Eugh.

**Author's Note:**

> I understand this first chapter is short, thats because its the intro.  
> I needed it out of the way so I could finally start working on the ACTUAL next chapter which will be longer I promise.  
> This one is kinda scrappy and a little all over the place but its trying its best at least? Yeah....at least...
> 
> I'll go back and fix any issues I may spot, I don't always catch them right away.  
> Kudos and Comments are always loved and welcomed.
> 
> Thank you and have a nice day.


End file.
